Cristiano Ronaldo ends his goal drought as rampant Portugal outclass Uzbekistan

Golden oldies fighting for the golden boot? Let us not get ahead of ourselves. But it will do Cristiano Ronaldo’s ego no harm that he is off the mark at this World Cup, particularly in light of Lionel Messi’s voracious appetite to stoke fires that started long ago. Two first-half goals gave Houston’s public what they came for and laid an unfortunate run to rest. Until this contribution to what quickly became a leisurely non-contest, Ronaldo had not scored in 10 major tournament matches. Thank goodness, then, for an Uzbekistan defence that would have struggled to hold firm in a Masters game. There could have been no better opponent to help Ronaldo get his eye in, Nuno Mendes’ free-kick, an Abdukodir Khusanov own goal and Rafael Leão’s late adornment emphasising the point. Fabio Cannavaro’s players could not get near opponents of this level. Rafael Leão caps the 5-0 rout late on. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters It brought relief for Roberto Martínez, under fire after Portugal’s slow start. They will play in the last 32 and there was no faulting their application this time. The question is whether Ronaldo’s renaissance reveals anything at all. If that was so good then try it in a quarter-final against Messi and Argentina, hardly an outlandish prospect as things stand. Few salient topics were really settled here. …